NEW YORK -Paragon Networks International, Brookfield, Conn., wants to take wireless carriers on a walk across “BROADway” to bridge the gap between today’s circuit-switched networks and tomorrow’s packet-based networks.
Introduced at the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association’s Wireless 2001 in Las Vegas last week, the BROADway network access switch will be generally available in June.
“Set in the Mobile Switching Center, it acts as an interconnection device between circuit and packet networks, and on the internal side, connects to the ISPs (Internet service providers),” said Mark J. Agovino, vice president of marketing.
“When we first went after wireless, we built a modular platform for remote (network) monitoring that avoids the need to change out the old systems. BROADway addresses the transition from 2G to 2.5G to 3G, from ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) to frame relay to VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), in which the networks will change significantly on the back end.”
In this new product, Paragon Networks said it has integrated many different access and switching functions into one modular platform to reduce power consumption, costs, rack space requirements and management complexity. To remove the bandwidth bottlenecks between end-user devices, cell sites and edge or core networks, BROADway delivers transport, edge routing and switching intelligence to the network access point, the company said.
“It is very unclear how carriers can cost justify the business case for 3G. This will drive a longer transition from 2G to 3G, an evolution I think will be in the 10-year time frame. Carriers haven’t fully amortized the cost of 2G, and it’s not clear what the applications are for 3G,” said Russ Hawkins, president and chief executive officer of Paragon Networks.
“RBOCs (regional Bell operating companies), which have a lot of voice probably will be slow to adopt 3G, while green field operators might be faster. Paragon is building a tool set to allow carriers to use their infrastructure base for migration with maximum control and management of voice.”
While data communications offer the prospects for enhanced future revenues, the reality for wireless carriers is that most revenues today come from voice communications, Agovino said.
The advent of Voice over IP will prove a mixed blessing. On the plus side, it is very efficient as a communications delivery mechanism. However, it also will increase downward pressure on voice calling prices because VoIP eliminates traditional billing rationales that have been based on time and distance, Hawkins said.
“One of the core capabilities we bring to the table is that our products sit in between different media-copper, fiber, microwave radio-and interconnect different media and protocols,” he said.
“BROADway also acts as a traffic cop and as a quality of service assurance so that (for example), Voice over IP doesn’t sound like you’re talking under water.”
Perhaps even more so than in voice communications, quality of service enhancement will become increasingly necessary for transmission and unified delivery of coherent streams of complex data. These will offer carriers enhanced revenue opportunities, Agovino said.
“There is a school of thought that you just need to build big pipes for data, but that defeats the (efficiency) purpose of IP,” he said.
“BROADway guarantees the flow of IP packets and reprioritizes them for quality of service and timing that will enable many applications.”
